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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (720721)	1/6/2006 1:31:44 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Patent reform is likely to give us some of the biggest 'bang for the buck', but the other reforms I suggested (Insurance, Medical profession and pharmacies, and allowing bulk purchases and drug imports) are also likely to help tame the rampaging inflation in health care costs. Any reform that isn't comprehensive is likely to fail utterly at controling costs.... The 'Governator' is now calling for imports and bulk purchases: Getting serious on drug-cost spiral SCHWARZENEGGER MUST SHOW HE'S DEDICATED TO CONTAINING STATE'S PRESCRIPTION EXPENSES Mercury News Editorial Posted on Thu, Jan. 05, 2006 mercurynews.com So, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now is endorsing the notion of allowing Californians to import prescription drugs from other countries. Better late than never. But the governor has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to make good on previous commitments to significantly reduce prescription drug costs for Californians. Importation of prescription drugs is a small step in that direction. Expanding the state's ability to purchase prescription drugs in bulk -- a concept endorsed by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office and the governor's California Performance Review -- is far more critical. Californians watching the governor's State of the State address tonight will have their first opportunity to see how serious Schwarzenegger is about saving taxpayer health care dollars in 2006. He has had two opportunities in the past two years to sign prescription-drug bills and he has instead vetoed the legislation. Consumers around the world, including Canada and most of Europe, pay lower prices for their prescription drugs for two primary reasons: price controls and bulk purchasing. The former is objectionable for a variety of reasons, including the danger of pharmaceutical companies being unable to realize a reasonable profit on their huge investment in making new drugs. But bulk purchasing, which is being aggressively pursued in other states, provides a stable market for pharmaceutical companies while allowing the state to keep costs under control. Californians wanting to know why the state's health care budget is out of control need look no further than their Medi-Cal prescription drug costs. They soared from $2.9 billion in 2003 to $3.8 billion in 2004. Bulk purchasing would go a long way toward reining in those costs. If all Californians hear tonight from the governor is a sentence or two urging Congress to allow Americans to import cheaper drugs from foreign nations, they should ask themselves why the governor doesn't instead just pick up the phone and work out a deal with the president. But if they hear the governor talk about working toward a legislative compromise this year on prescription drugs that would include a comprehensive bulk-purchasing plan, they'll know that Schwarzenegger is serious this time about producing significant savings. © 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. mercurynews.com